12 good men got together last night at the Orchard on the Lower East
Side to sample some 1986 Bordeaux. A nice event, with a great group,
and overall the wines showed quite well.

While we were waiting we opened with:
2003 Ehrhart Schlossberg Riesling (Alsace)
Some sweetness, not much acidic grip, canned peaches and tropical
fruit. Too 2003 for me. C+

Ok, on to main event:
Right Bank and Graves

1986 Ch. L'Arrosee
Nice nose with smoke and mineral. Tannins are integrated, this seems
fully mature, for drinking now my surprise WOTF. B+

1986 Vieux Chateau Certan
Attractive nose as poured, but on tasting there's a little green pepper
note in the background. Once I note it on the palate I find it on the
nose, too. Tannins still a little spiky, and there's not much in the
way of Pomerolish lushness. B-/C+

1986 Haut Brion
Funky nose, but sweet fruit outlasts the funk. Smooth with black cherry
and cassis fruit, but finish is surprisingly short. A (mild)
disappointment. B

1986 Pape Clement
Someone remarks on the very dark color. Some distracting VA when I
first pour, initially I don't really care for, but comes back a bit.
Seems young. B

Margaux

1986 Ch. Margaux
Tight, brooding, monolithic. I had double-decanted this about 6-7 hours
before (giving it half-hour in a decanter as I was cleaning bottle and
other chores)- it wasn't giving up much then and it wasn't giving
anymore now. Big, needs time (25 years!). Think it will eventually be
amazing, seems to be a lot hiding there. Saving some in my glass
eventually resulted in a big powerful cassis-driven wine. A-/B+
(note: the Margaux was a communal buy with several of us chipping in.
Label was shot, but I think wine was intact, just tight)

1986 Palmer
Dark berry fruit, cedar and earth, very nice but could use a little
time. B+

1986 Rausan Segla
Fully mature and ready, blackberry and blackcurrant, drinking
beautifully now. B+/A-

Pauillac

1986 Pichon Baron
Herby, smoky, fragrant. Very good showing. B+

1986 Lynch Bages
Very mature, ready to go. Nice flavors but a little short. I liked
better last time I tried. B/B-

1986 Pichon Lalande
Funky, not showing well. Some off odors- I thought corked at first, but
then changed mind. I don't think it was a good bottle, however. C+

1986 Lafite-Rothschild
High expectations, fullfilled. Very nice- big but balanced, lots of
graphite, cedar, and leather supported by dense sweet fruit. My WOTN,
and I think clear winner in voting. A

St Julien and St Estephe
1986 Gruaud Larose
Others seemed to like more than I did. I usually love this wine, but
this just seemed sooooo tight. Later with air more fruit and cigarbox
aromas came out. B/B+

1986 Talbot
WOTF for me, and just trailing the Lafite for WOTN. Big but with
outfront sweet dark (cassis) fruit, pleasant nuances of cedar, leather,
and earth. A-

1986 Cos D'Estournel
Another wine I've liked better previously. Big, brawny, somewhat tight.
Some coffee and wood spice aromas. B

St Julien #2
1986 Beychevelle
Seems mature, with big red fruit, some earth and mushroom, clean
finish. B

1986 Leoville Barton
Young, brawny, with good black plum and blackcurrant fruit. B+/B

1986 Lagrange
Didn't care for this at first, but it picked up steam in glass. Mature,
not as big as some others, but well-balanced claret. B/B+

1986 Ch. D'Yquem
Young, but oh so gorgeous. A-/A

I should say that while I always say I'm an easy grader, I probably was
a little tougher last night to allow myself to differentiate between a
lot of very good wines. I would have very happily drunk any of the
1986s, except the Pichon Lalande and maybe the VCC, on another night.

Orchard is a nice space, and service was generally good. I liked the
flatbread canapes (shortribs, tartare, duck, mushrooms) a lot. My first
course of foie gras was quite good, as was my lamb tenderloin. Overall
the menu was more Pinot Noir/Nebbioloi-sh that Cab friendly, but it
worked out fine. Thanks to Arv, Paul, and Matt for organizing, and to
all in a nice group for contributing.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of
consistency

thanks for the notes Dale

did you have to sell the farm????>

did you have to sell the farm????>

I confess to being confused by this, two people separated by a common
language?
Are you making a play on the name of the restaurant (the Orchard)?
Talking about the rather expensive nature of older Bdx from (somewhat)
heralded vintages?
I know not.
If the latter, everyone brought at least one bottle. Some had from
release, some acquired later. I brought the Barton (I also offered the
Gruaud, but someone else had that as only offering, or the the Meyney,
but several of us had tried that recently). Five of us that had less
expensive offerings chipped in on the Margaux, which I acquired for
tasting.
cheers!

"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> did you have to sell the farm????>
>
> I confess to being confused by this, two people separated by a common
> language?

I meant the expense Dale!! ;-)